HUMBLOT, FRANÇOIS. - Theologian and preacher of the Order of Minims, born in Verdun in 1569, died in Tours on 29 Oct. 1612. He entered the religious life in Lyons at the age of 24, already holding doctorates in law, philosophy, mathematics, medicine, and theology. After ordination to the priesthood, he was assigned to preaching. Clement VIII called him to join a company of eight missionaries for the direct combat against Calvinism.
A fluent and brilliant orator, he traveled through the principal cities of France. He engaged in disputations with the most ardent Calvinists, whom he always succeeded in refuting, and sometimes even converting. Within his Order, he held the offices of provincial (of Tours, Lyons, and Provence), visitor, and procurator general (1602–1605). Venerated as a saint, he was honored with burial in the same tomb as St. Francis of Paola.
His important work is *Phantasma coenae ministralis* (Padua 1612), a refutation of Calvinist errors concerning the Eucharist.